Rosemary
by SnowLucario
Summary: An account of the Giver's daughter, Rosemary, who was selected to train under her father to become the Receiver Of Memory, and the tragic situation that ensued. My first, and probably only, one-shot. Please review.


**This is going to be a one-shot. It's pretty long for a one-shot, but it's a one-shot nonetheless.** ** _The Giver_** **is one of the most powerful stories I have ever written, especially because it's seemingly so simple and short, it's kind of for younger kids. But that's part of the charm. What if you lived in a world without color, without the extremes of emotions?**

 **For those of you who don't remember: Rosemary is the Giver's daughter, who applied for Release because she was overwhelmed by the memories she was transmitted. This story takes place ten years prior to the events of the actual book. But do you guys need to know this? I'm assuming that if you're reading this, you're familiar with the source material. So here goes. My first one-shot.**

 **And, just so you know, after this I intend to return to _Labyrinth._ After all, I want it to be finished as much as you do.**

* * *

It was time for the annual Ceremony Of Twelve.

Over the last day and a half of December, the Ceremonies for the younger males and females had been held. The Ones had been given to their new families, and Named. Twenty-five males, twenty-five females were given to their family units who had applied for them.

The Twos had received new clothes in order to learn how to walk, while the Threes began dream-telling and working on acquiring correct language. The Fours, Fives, and Sixes wore a jacket fastened to the back, so that the children would learn to depend on each other to get them on and off. The Sevens finally got front-fastened ones to promote independence. At Eight, new pockets and volunteer hours. At Nine, they received new clothes and bicycles, while Ten meant haircuts.

The Elevens were simply given new clothes right before the midday meal on December 2. Everyone could tell, though, that they didn't really care about Eleven. They were just waiting for the Ceremony Of Twelve, which wouldn't occur until the following year.

And, now that everybody had been fed, it was time for the most important part of the Ceremonies. Each Twelve would receive their special Assignment. This was what they would do for most of their adult life. After today, they would only go to school for one more year, and after that they would only attend training for their Assignments.

But, little did they know, there was one guest in the room who was not normally present. Jeff, a middle-aged man with pained eyes, sat next to the table where the Elders were. Most of the people in the Community would not notice him, or if they did, not notice that he was there where he normally wasn't.

Jeff could see things that the others couldn't. He saw the _colors_ of everyone's individual tunics. Red, blue, black, orange, purple, green...if only these people could see color! They were really missing out on something great.

The reason Jeff was here this year was because there was to be a Twelve assigned to be the Receiver Of Memory. That person would be skipped in the order of Assigning. Instead, after Fifty, a female named Judith, was given her Assignment, the child who had been skipped over, who would no doubt be embarrassed and worried, would be reassured by the fact that the Committee Of Elders had not made a monumental mistake.

It just so happened that this year, all the odd numbers were males, and the even numbers were females. What a coincidence.

Jeff's daughter, Rosemary, was Twenty-Eight. This meant that she would be the twenty-eighth person to receive her Assignment.

 _Unless she was chosen to be the Receiver,_ Jeff thought. He wouldn't wish that on anyone, especially not his daughter. He still had nightmares of all of the bad memories that he had endured as part of his training. And now, it was time to see who he'd inflict this pain upon next.

Then, the Assigning began.

* * *

"Number One...Nicholas...Assistant Director Of Recreation" the Chief Elder announced. Nicholas, a small, mousy-haired boy, walked timidly up to the stage, fidgeting the whole way. _He looks good for the job,_ Jeff thought.

"Number Two...Jane...Hatchery".

"Number Three...Arthur...Nurturer".

And so it went, on and on and on. Jeff was just waiting to see what Rosemary's assignment would be. It pained him to think that most of the people in the Community didn't actually feel those parental bonds with their children that he felt wth Rosemary. Instead, they seemed like...one word he'd learned from the previous Receiver... _roommates._

 _"_ Number Twenty-Six...Samantha...Birthmother".

"Number Twenty-Seven...Spencer...Nutritional Director".

 _Okay, this is where it all matters. If the next one is Twenty-Eight, Rosemary, then that means she'll just have a normal Assignment like everyone else. If it's Twenty-Nine, that means my female is going to be my replacement. I could never do that..._

"Number Twenty-Nine...Michael...Assistant Director Of Rehabilitation".

 _She skipped over Rosemary. That means she's the next one._

 _No...no...no...NO!_

* * *

An hour later, they had finally gotten through the thirties and the forties. When number 50, a girl named Jessica, had received her Assignment as Caretaker Of The Old, the whole audience went silent. They had not given Twenty-Eight an assignment. Rosemary was on her seat, red-faced, wondering what was going on.

"You think there's been a mistake" the Chief Elder said.

The citizens remained silent, not sure what to say.

"Well, there hasn't. Rosemary has been selected for a very special Assignment...she'll be our next Receiver Of Memory".

 _I hate my life,_ Jeff thought.

* * *

That evening, Jeff and Rosemary went back to their dwelling. Over dinner, Jeff and his partner, Kelly, were discussing Rosemary. The poor girl was overwhelmed by what had happened today. And it would only get worse, Jeff knew, once she was actually the Receiver.

The sooner Jeff learned to stop thinking of Rosemary as his daughter, the easier it would be to do his job.

* * *

Rosemary went up to her bedroom in the dwelling in order to review her guidelines for her Assignment. She had been told that it was the most important one of all, so she was surprised to find that there was only one sheet of paper in the manila envelope.

This was what the sheet read:

 _1\. After school every day, you will go to the Annex behind the House Of The Old for your daily training. Afterwards, you will return home._

 _2\. From here on out, you are exempt from rules regarding rudeness. You may ask any question of anybody and expect an answer._

 _3\. You are not allowed to disclose anything about your training to anyone in your family unit._

 _4\. You are exempt from dream-telling._

 _5\. Except for injury or illness not relating to your training, you are not permitted to apply for any medication._

 _6\. You may lie._

Rosemary studied these rules. She was a bit worried about rule number 5. It seemed to imply that she might become sick or hurt in her training. But her father was her master! He'd make sure she didn't have too many problems...right?

* * *

The following day, after school, Rosemary walked to the annex. She didn't know what to expect. All she knew was that her father would be training her, and it involved pain. Physical pain, according to the Chief Elder.

Jeff was waiting for her daughter when she walked into his library. Rosemary's father was looking very stoic, and asked Rosemary if she was ready.

"So, Rosemary, as you are aware, I typically do not attend the Ceremony Of Twelve. I was there this year, because of your Assignment. It's going to be time for your training to begin. Are you ready?"

"Yes" Rosemary said, still not sure what she was getting into.

"Okay" Jeff said. "I want you to go down to that table and raise your shirt. Not too revealing, just so I can see your back".

"Um...you're my father..."

"Just trust me, okay? This is what you have to do in order for me to do my job. For _you_ to do this, someday. So go lie down on that table".

Rosemary looked at the sterile table, which looked like something that might be found in a doctor's office. Reluctantly, Jeff's daughter lowered her shirt.

Jeff placed his hands on Rosemary's back and focused _hard._ Transmitting memories took a lot of mental concentration, but Jeff knew what to do.

As for Rosemary, the books, as well as the medical table, vanished.

* * *

Rosemary opened her eyes to find herself on a boardwalk next to a sandy expanse next to a large body of water. She'd never seen anything like it before. Somehow, the words came to her: _beach, sea_.

In front of her was a large machine that had been stopped. There was something about this machine that was quite atypical. It was fancily decorated, and there was kind of a _floor_ to it that had these animals Rosemary had never seen before, with seats. In front of her, children were just getting off the machine, which they had evidently been riding on.

But the most mysterious thing about it was that the machine was somehow... _different._ She didn't know how, but something about the sight of this machine had a different quality to it, something she couldn't possibly put into words.

A man was standing in front of Rosemary, taking something from her and the man whose hand she had been holding.

"It's our turn" a familiar voice said.

Rosemary's father was standing next to her, and they were about to get on the ride. She wondered what this was.

Jeff helped Rosemary up onto one of the horses, and then got on one himself. Then, the ride started.

Rosemary was aware, the whole time, that this wasn't real. It was part of her Assignment as Receiver. But she didn't care. This was quite exhilarating, not something that she had been used to back in the Community. She reveled in it the whole time, not wanting this to end.

But, eventually, it did end, and she woke up again.

* * *

"So, how was it?" her father asked Rosemary.

"That was great" Rosemary said. "What was that?"

"That was called a carousel" Jeff said. "People used to ride on one for fun".

"But there was this one thing" Rosemary said to her father, "the carousel, or whatever it's called- something was different about it. It was _bright,_ and every part of it seemed to be a different kind of brightness. What _was_ that?"

"That" Jeff said, "is complicated. You see, before, things not only had shapes and sizes, but they had a different property as well, called _color._ That must have been the difference you saw".

"Yeah" said Rosemary. "But that was quite pleasant, actually. I thought this job was going to be painful".

"Oh, it will be" her father said. "Just not quite yet".

* * *

Jeff's warning haunted Rosemary over the ensuing weeks. Even so, he showed her far more pleasant memories, such as sailing on the ocean, picnics, sledding, and other things. But that didn't make Rosemary too relieved. All she wanted to do was to get to the pain, so that she'd know what to expect.

One day, during her training, she pulled her father aside and said:

"Father, you've been giving me too many pleasant memories. I want to experience some pain. It'll be harder to do that the longer I go on just with happy memories".

And he complied.

This time, Rosemary found herself observing from above. She saw a woman walking, carrying a baby in her arms. Rosemary's first thought was that this must be a Birthmother. But instead, the woman put the baby down and walked off.

This affected Rosemary to no small degree. She wasn't sure why, but even in this world of dulled extremes of emotions, she was sure that what she saw was wrong.

* * *

She woke up on the library floor, gasping in emotional pain.

"Are you okay, Rosemary? I did warn you that this was going to hurt".

"No, I'm not, Father!" she cried. "I can't handle the emotions..."

"I know this is hard, Rosemary, but you just have to trust me..."

"No, I can't! I just want to be Released!"

This shocked Jeff. He knew the truth about Release. "You want to go Elsewhere?" he asked his daughter in a soft voice.

"Yes!" Rosemary cried.

"Well, it's not that simple. I want to show you what that actually entails. Release isn't what you think it is".

"Show me, then" Rosemary said.

And he did.

* * *

Two weeks later, Jeff stood away from his daughter, who was standing in the room in which she would be Released. Even after she had been told what Release actually meant, a lethal injection, she still wanted to go through with it.

"I just can't live with this, Father!" she wailed.

"I know, Rosemary. I know" Jeff said back to her.

A Nurturer came by with the hypodermic needle that would be injected into Rosemary's vein. That would kill her. And there was no convincing her otherwise.

"Nurturer?" she asked.

"Yes, what is it, Rosemary?" the Nurturer asked the Receiver.

"I want to inject myself".

This made Jeff even sadder. His daughter was going to kill herself. And there was nothing he could do to stop it.

The Nurturer gave the needle to Rosemary. The girl looked at her father, and said, "Father, I love you".

"I love you too, Rosemary".

She plunged the needle home.


End file.
